Thursday, November 19, 2009

Having a friend who was soon to give birth, it was suggested to me to re-proportion the hat to infant size for the new addition to our knitting group. Thus, The Guppie Hat was born. The picture on the left shows the difference in size between the original pattern and the down-sized Guppie. In the picture on the right the hat is modeled by the lovely Kyra. Following are my notes on the re-sized Guppie Hat. You may wish to reference the original pattern for further directions if my notes are not clear as written.

Materials:Approximately 70 grams yarn (I used Cascade 220) I spit-spliced the color changes so I wouldn’t have so many ends to weave in.Size US 7 dpnDarning needleStitch marker

CO 61 stitches.Join by knitting the first and last cast on sts together being careful not to twist. Place marker at beginning of the round Knit for approximately 1 inch.

Pick up the 8 sts on the holder and complete the second half of the tail as above.

Dorsal Fin:PU 15 sts along top of fish.Kf&b of each stWork in 1x1 ribbing for 6 rows.Bind off

Pectoral Fins:PU 10 sts along sides of fishWork as for the Dorsal fin.

Tie:Crochet a chain approximately 24-26 inches (or desired length). Pull one end through at the side of fish mouth. Weave the other end through the under side of the lip on the back side of the hat and through the lip on the other side of the mouth, making a continuous strap from one side, around the back to the other side.

Finishing:Fold each half of the tail together and sew.Weave in all ends.

Put on the eyes. The original pattern called for circles of white felt, with a dark yarn X in the middle. I prefer to use duplicate stitch for the entire eye. This makes the hat completely baby safe. I have also seen these hats with buttons for the eyes. I refused to put “dead eyes” on a baby hat, so I put live eyes on it.

2 comments:

Can you explain how you "spit splice" your color changes. I did look this up on the internet, but wasn't able to completely understand it. Having made 2 Fish hats (regular size) I would appreciate having a better way to do color changes.